Media Ethics 2006 Abstracts
Media Ethics Division
The Virtuous Advocate versus The Pathological Partisan: A Model of Opposing Archetypes of Public Relations and Advertising Practitioners (A Virtue Ethics Approach to Applied Ethics for Public Relations and Advertising Practitioners) • Sherry Baker, Brigham Young University • Drawing upon contemporary virtue ethics theory (including care, dependency, humility, humane concern, v-rules, and narrative unity) a graphic model of diametrically opposed archetypes of public relations and advertising practitioners is developed. Profiles of the Virtuous Advocate (representing advocacy virtues) and the Pathological Partisan (representing opposing vices) are introduced. One becomes a Virtuous Advocate or Pathological Partisan by habitually enacting the virtues or vices in the context of practices. Includes suggestions for further virtue ethics research.
A Theory of Journalism • Sandra L. Borden, Western Michigan University • This paper attempts to define journalism by sketching a theory that links the purpose and product of journalism in a meaningful way. Relying on a communitarian account of participatory citizenship and Code’s (1987) notion of epistemic responsibility, this theory proposes that journalism’s purpose is to help citizens know well in the public sphere.
Separating rumors from news but not entirely from journalism • Karen Boyajy and Lee Wilkins, University of Missouri • This study is the first to examine how journalists evaluate rumors. Respondents connected investigating and reporting on rumors with issues of craft—particularly standards of verification—and with truth telling. However, rumors about celebrities were ranked first in terms of stories that need investigation, surpassing topics such as the private lives of public figures and bomb threats. Respondents generally supported debunking rumors but not educating audiences as important journalistic roles.
Propaganda Analysis: A Case Study Of The U.S. Department Of Education’s Minority Outreach Campaign Promoting The No Child Left Behind Act • Bonnie Ann Cain, Oklahoma State University • This study provides a comprehensive examination of the Department of Education’s controversial promotion of No Child Left Behind by employing Jowett and O’Donnell’s 10-point propaganda framework. Arguments that the campaign is propaganda are supported by the campaign’s fit with expectations of propaganda. This case study provides a backdrop for discussion of PR’s role in promoting policy and emerging guidelines for future government PR contracts.
Walking the (Border) Line: Press Coverage of Activist Groups on the Arizona/Mexico Border • Cari Lee Skogberg Eastman, University of Colorado • A battle over migration is brewing in the Arizona desert as advocates of opposing approaches to border policy reform vie for media publicity of their ideals. Through content analysis and correspondence with journalists, this study examines the representation of three activist groups in Arizona’s two largest newspapers, and argues that a civic journalism – through its deep involvement with the community – naturally includes a wider, more equitable representation of voices than traditional utilitarian newsroom approaches.
Political Consulting: The Rise of Professionalism, The Question of Ethics • Michelle Honald, University of Oregon • Content analysis concerning the nature of ethical discussion in political consulting was conducted on a total of 1066 articles from two scholarly journals and one professional trade publication during the period 1995-2005. Of the 1006 articles, 32 mentioned ethics in some substantive way. The articles were further divided into four categories: normative appeals; mention of a code of ethics; discussion of meta-ethical issues; and relation of ethics to academic theory.
Anonymous sources and readership credibility: A qualitative investigation of the barriers to newspaper believability • Tom Hrach and Stephen Siff, Ohio University • Media professionals have reacted to recent declines in media credibility by calling for a reduction of the number of anonymous sources used in news articles. Despite journalists’ belief that anonymous sources present a credibility problem, nonjournalists in focus groups said anonymous sources were only one issue affecting media credibility. More important barriers to credibility included inadequate branding, sourcing and quality of information.
The Green River Confession: News Treatment of Victims and Co-victims • Sue Lockett John, University of Washington • The November, 2003, confessions of Northwest serial killer Gary Ridgway focused intensive media attention on the deaths of more than 48 female victims many years before. In such situations, journalists’ deadline-driven demands to inform the public can conflict with survivors’ needs to avoid re-victimization though loss of privacy, painful word associations, and other triggers of post-traumatic stress.
To Publish or Not to Publish: The Muhammad Cartoon Dilemma • Jenn Burleson Mackay, The University of Alabama • Newspapers inspired Middle Eastern violence and controversy after they published political cartoons depicting Islam’s Muhammad. This paper considers how newspaper editors could have used several ethical models to decide whether they should publish the cartoons. Several ethical models are discussed and applied to the cartoon dilemma. The paper concludes with a comparison of how the models arrive at different decisions that allow the journalist to be ethical regardless of whether he publishes the cartoons.
Transparency: An Assessment of the Kantian Roots of a Key Element in Media Ethics Practice • Patrick Lee Plaisance, Colorado State University • This study argues that the notion of transparency requires reconsideration as an essence of ethical agency. It provides a brief explication of the concept of transparency, rooted in the “principle of human dignity” of Immanuel Kant, and suggests that it has been inadequately appreciated by media ethics scholars and instructors more focused on relatively simplistic applications of his categorical imperative.
Dimensions of Journalistic Messenger Transparency • Chris Roberts, University of South Carolina • While other disciplines have operationalized the term “transparency,” journalism scholars have not explicated dimensions of transparency. This paper suggests that media scholars should use David Berlo’s “source-message-channel-receiver” communication model to discuss a continuum of journalistic transparency attributes. It uses that model to explicate nine dimensions of journalism messenger transparency, notes transparency’s connections to Rawls’ “Veil of Ignorance,” and suggests further research is needed to explore the assumed relationship between transparency and credibility.
“Secret” Casualties: Images of Injury and Death in the Iraq War Across Media Platforms • B. William Silcock and Carol B. Schwalbe, Arizona State University and Susan Keith, Rutgers University • This study examined more than 2,500 images from U.S. television news, newspapers, news magazines, and online news sites during the first five weeks of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in and found that only 10 percent showed injury or death. The paper analyzes which media platforms were most willing to show casualties.
Confidence in the Press, Attitudes about Press Freedom, and the Third Person Effect: A Preliminary Exploration using Secondary Survey Data • Derigan A. Silver, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill • Third-person effect—the hypothesis that people overestimate the influence that communications have on the attitudes of others—suggests the possibility that individuals will want to censor the press if they view its messages as having a negative impact on others or if they view media coverage of their group or cause as being biased.
Loath to admit: pressures on ethical disclosure of news release sources • Peter Simmons, Charles Sturt University, AUSTRALIA • Non-disclosure of third-party news sources deceives the public and is ethically objectionable. The S.967 Pre-packaged News Stories Bill endorsed the principle of self-regulation by US journalists when disclosing the source of government news releases. The PRSA and RTNDA advocate disclosure of source to the public, but their members perceive advantages in non-disclosure. PR values the credibility of implied news organization endorsement. Journalists resist being seen to be using PR as a source for their news.
Truth and Transparency: Bloggers’ Challenge to Professional Autonomy in Defining and Enacting Two Journalistic Norms • Jane B. Singer, University of Iowa • Commitments to truth and to “transparency” or public accountability are two central normative aspects of professional journalism. This paper considers ways in which both are challenged and complemented by other communicators, particularly bloggers. It proposes that while all professions claim autonomy over articulation and enactment of their own norms, the Internet environment is one in which definitions of professional constructs are open to reinterpretation and in which oversight of professional behavior is shared.
Construction of the Truth and Destruction of A Million Little Pieces: Framing in the Editorial Response to the James Frey Case • Nicole Elise Smith, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill • The notion of truth is central to our modern principles of objective journalism. A recent case has called into question the value that we, societally speaking, place on the truth. This study seeks to understand how editorial writers reacted to and subsequently framed the notion of “truth” within the context of the James Frey case. The qualitative, framing analysis examines editorials with the purpose of providing an understanding of the news frame surrounding the “truth.”
Stakeholder Theory and Media Management: An Ethical Framework for News Company Executives • Reuben J. Stern, University of Missouri • Contrary to stockholder theories that place the interests of profit-seeking owners above all else, stakeholder theorists argue that corporate executives have moral and ethical obligations to consider equally the interests of a wide range of stakeholders affected by the actions of a corporation. This paper argues that the stakeholder approach is particularly appropriate for the governance of news media companies. The paper then outlines an ethical framework to guide news company executives.
The TARES Test as an Ethical Analysis Tool: Assessing the Ethicality of Direct Response Television Programs • Ken Waters and Jamie Melton, Pepperdine University • In recent years, scholars have proposed several “tests” for determining the ethicality of persuasive mediated messages. Baker & Martinson (2001) suggest a five-part test called the TARES test. Eight one-hour special reports prepared by international aid organization World Vision were studied. The researchers note that the TARES test can be used to assess the ethicality of persuasive messages, but dialogue with the messages’ creators is necessary to achieve a useful assessment for pedagogical purposes.
Media Literacy as Trust Builder: How media education can foster critical and sympathetic news audiences • Wendy N. Wyatt, University of St. Thomas • One root of journalism’s credibility crisis can be found in the media illiteracy of its audiences. Therefore, part of the solution rests in educating audiences about the work journalists do. This calls for adjustments to conventional wisdom about media literacy. In addition to providing adversarial tools to critique the press, media literacy should also provide sympathetic tools to understand it. Efforts at foundational media literacy are steps toward reestablishing trust between the media and citizens.
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